Major Overhaul Of PDS In Karnataka: E-KYC Mandatory, New Cards In 30 Days | The Bengaluru Live

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Belagavi: Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister KH Muniyappa on Monday conducted a high-level review meeting with district-level officials from Belagavi and Kalaburagi divisions at the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, directing sweeping reforms in the Public Distribution System (PDS) to ensure transparency and protect eligible beneficiaries.

Addressing officials and representatives of Fair Price Shop (FPS) owners’ associations, Muniyappa made it clear that e-KYC is mandatory for all ration card holders, while warning officials against the cancellation of cards belonging to eligible families under any circumstances.

The minister instructed that ration card revision must be completed within one month, and 3.96 lakh beneficiaries must be issued new ration cards within the stipulated period. He said that if eligible beneficiaries were wrongly shifted from BPL to APL during the revision process, they could submit applications at their respective tahsildar offices, following which due verification would be conducted and the cards restored to BPL status.

To prevent wrongful exclusions, Muniyappa directed taluk-level officials to conduct door-to-door verification of ration card holders and submit factual reports within a week. “Only ineligible cards should be converted to APL. Eligible beneficiaries must not suffer due to procedural lapses,” he warned.

The minister said that based on Central and State government norms, nearly 13 lakh ration cards have been identified as ineligible and converted to APL. However, he stressed that authorities must quickly identify genuinely eligible beneficiaries and ensure they receive benefits without delay.

As part of modernization efforts, Muniyappa instructed officials to install e-Pass systems and electronic weighing machines in fair price shops, assuring shop owners that their retail margins would be released on time, provided rations are distributed correctly and punctually.

In a significant social justice measure, Muniyappa announced that 3,517 new fair price shops would be sanctioned within a month, giving priority to SC/ST applicants through internal reservation. He said Karnataka is the first state in the country to implement such a model under the leadership of district collectors.

On the agricultural front, the minister said that under the Minimum Support Price (MSP) scheme, ragi is being procured at ₹4,886 per quintal this year. About 6 lakh metric tonnes of ragi have already been registered for procurement, benefiting 2.57 lakh farmers, with an estimated financial outlay of ₹3,000 crore.

He also revealed that the Legal Metrology Department had inspected 71 sugar factories in Belagavi and Kalaburagi divisions, rectifying long-standing irregularities affecting sugarcane growers. “Cheating in weighment has been curbed, and penalties amounting to nearly ₹50,000 crore have been recovered so far,” Muniyappa said.

Senior officials, including Government Secretary Prasad NV, Commissioner M. Kanagavalli, Controller of Legal Metrology MS N Babu, Corporation Director Jagadish, and representatives of ration dealers’ associations, were present at the meeting.